Bluebirds
If you take a walk around Snipes Farm and Education Center, you are sure to come across a small wooden birdhouse.
These have been created specifically to support the native bluebird population. As secondary cavity dwellers, bluebirds will build their rounded grass nests in old woodpecker holes in trees and smaller bird house boxes.
This method not only preserves vital soil structure but also leads to higher nutrient density, ensuring our crops are both healthy and flavorful.
“Bluebirds make people happy.”
— Birdhouse Box Volunteer
A happy home
Bluebirds usually begin looking for their next nesting site in late winter, typically late February or March. The females will build a cup-shaped nest in April and lay multiple broods of eggs in a season.
This year, two of the birdhouse boxes were home to two broods each.
As their native environment has been negatively impacted by increased development, bluebirds have faced competition from other songbirds looking for nesting locations. The nesting boxes throughout the farm provide a welcome respite for these beautiful and helpful birds.
Volunteer support
“Blue birds make people happy,” commented a volunteer who was cleaning out an old bird nest in mid-July.
“They were endangered for quite a number of years, but conservation efforts have brought their numbers back up. They’re important because they eat insects, and they eat the insects that might normally have negative effects on their crops, so they are important for farmers.”
